This left Arizona and new head coach Steve Wilks in a bind entering the offseason.

The Cardinals’ salary cap situation is such that bidding for Kirk Cousins, who will be signing a mega-deal with Minnesota, couldn’t happen. Others QBs available through either free agency or trade like Keenum, Alex Smith, Tyrod Taylor, AJ McCarron, Teddy Bridgewater, ex-Cardinal Josh McCown or dare I say it Colin Kaepernick apparently weren’t affordable or as appealing as Bradford from either a financial or Xs-and-Os standpoint.

“It does get you excited, and at the same time, we know we’re only one year into this process. We’re deeper into the phase where player development is going to be at the forefront, and we’re going to have to be patient and allow these players the time and latitude to develop and inevitably fail and recover from that failure.”

If the first phase was selling off nearly every tradeable piece and hoarding many of the best prospects in baseball, Hahn and company have done that with mastery.

Now having spent a full year in the White Sox organization after being traded from Boston last winter, Kopech has the kind of team-first attitude about the upcoming season that is common in Chicago.

“I’m going to do whatever I can to help the team, whether that’s going to be to pitch in Triple-A and leave me out of the big leagues altogether, or if it’s going to be to go to the big leagues and take the ball every fifth day,” Kopech told Sporting News. “My focus first and foremost is for the White Sox to use me in a beneficial way, and whatever way that is for them is going to work for me.”

The Cincinnati Bengals backup was nearly traded in October, until the Cleveland Browns botched (possibly on purpose) the deal at the last minute. Then, less than a month from his trip into restricted free agency, McCarron won a grievance in February making him an unrestricted free agent.

Cincinnati argued that McCarron’s 2014 rookie year wasn’t an accrued season because he spent all but three games on the non-football injury (NFI) list. But an arbitrator agreed with the quarterback’s argument that he was healthy enough to come off the list in time for the season to count, but was stashed by the team anyway.

Now he’ll be free to sign with the highest bidder in free agency. Despite his limited sample size, there will be a buyer, although Kirk Cousins, Sam Bradford, Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater, and even Mike Glennon all found landing spots first.